SEAPA Alert: Military authorities ban Burmese artists for backing Suu Kyi, satirizing government officials

7 December 2010
Source: Mizzima News

Burma's Ministry of Information ordered eight FM radio stations in
the final week of November not to interview or even broadcast the
works of more than 11 performers, a radio station employee said.

The move appears part of a program by Burma's military regime to
get back at artists who have satirized the junta or shown support
for pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The ministry sent letters to the stations callnig a halt to
broadcasts of singers Saung Oo Hlaing, Anaggha, Thanthawin and
Kyarpauk; bass guitarist Ye Lwin; film directors Myo Min, Min Htin
Ko Ko Gyi and Cho Too Zaw; actor Kyaw Thu and his wife Shwe Zigwet;
and writer Than Myint Aung, the station employee said.

"The Ministry of Information ordered us to stop broadcasting their
interviews and performances," the employee said on condition of
anonymity.

The letters gave no reason for the ban and failed to say when the
ban would expire, the employee said.

Mizzima contacted one of those performers who requested anonymity,
but said: "After the election, we tried to express what we felt.
It's just another example of their attitude on controlling the
media."

He added that the ministry failed to inform the performers about
the ban.

Singers, including Anaggha, Thanthawin and Kyarpauk, also visited
the South Dagon Township HIV/AIDS Salvation Center run by the NLD
and gave donations.

Meanwhile, the junta banned from the film industry former actor
Kyaw Thu, founder of the Free Funeral Services Society, because of
his activities in the nationwide monk-led protests known as the
"Saffron Revolution" in 2007. He also met Suu Kyi at her home on 14
November, the day after her release from house arrest.

Local journals were also told not to write stories about actors Nay
Toe, Ye Lay, Tun Tun, Kyaw Kyaw Bo and Moe Moe after they gave a
satirical performance named "Htarwara Hninzi" ("Eternal Rose"),
which criticized the authorities.

In the traditional performance, Nay Toe sang a satirical song, the
lyrics of which included: "I swear ... roads were built reluctantly ...
and they were incomplete, so we cannot use them well ...".

The song was a popular jibe aimed possibly at Rangoon mayor and
Union Solidarity and Development Party candidate lawmaker-elect
Aung Thein Lin. Having promised to build new roads to garner
support for the elections on November 7, the mayor apparently
became the first politician to renege on an election promise.
Residents and witnesses say construction has come to a halt in the
post-election period on the half-finished "Aung Thein Lin" roads,
which only cover half of some streets in the former Burmese capital.

A journal editor told Mizzima, "When I went to the junta's
censorship board, they told me to remove an interview of a comedian
who had performed on 'Eternal Rose'. They informed me that the five
actors and movie director Myo Min were banned from journals."

Subject to the ban were Rangoon City FM, Mandalay City FM, Padauk
Myay Service, Shwe FM, Paddamya FM, Pyinsawaddy FM, Cherry FM and
Bagan FM.

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Mizzima News (http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=92apN&m=1eJradZHbjKXin&b=Pj.PPqb7CJ.odpz4xxHzfw) is a news organization
headquartered in New Delhi, India, run by exiled Burmese
journalists. A SEAPA partner, it aims to promote awareness about
the situation in Burma and promote democracy and freedom of
expression in the country.